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Posts Tagged ‘Kim McCarthy’

From the tip of South County in San Clemente, we move up the 5 North a bit to San Juan Capistrano, home of the beautiful and historic Mission San Juan Capistrano (Orange County’s only mission), and the amazing annual return of the swallows. SJC has two open seats, and we now introduce you to two council candidates: Dr. Roy Byrnes and Kim McCarthy. Ginny Kerr and council member Sam Allevato also are running and they sought the Orange County Republican Party’s endorsement. However, I made multiple attempts to contact Allevato and received no response, while Kerr has been out-of-town and unavailable.

Dr. Roy Byrnes

Roy previously served on the City Council from 1972-1976 and he is running again because he feels that the City Council has taken the wrong direction in the last few years. He believes there has been a focus on spending where the residents have been misled, and that the water reclamation plant has resulted in higher costs to the residents.

Roy feels that the city has to better manage its public parkland. For example, the 132-acre “riding park” the city bought has been leased to a commercial venture and the residents cannot even use it for hiking, picnicking, walking dogs, or any of the uses the public typically has for parks. Roy said the purchase of the riding park was done in secret, based on cronyism, and in disregard of any potential or existing conflicts of interest. Roy said he would study the documents relating to the park to analyze what the city’s position is from a legal standpoint, and explore if there is any way to address the public’s lack of access.

Roy also noted the problems with the city’s water reclamation plant. He said that the city had been buying water from the Metropolitan Water District (“MWD”) for 100+ years, but that in the last 15-20 years there was a movement within the city to build the existing groundwater recycling plant. Roy believes that the plant was poorly designed, resulting in water that costs the residents double what it costs to purchase the water from MWD. Roy noted that the plant is owned by the San Juan Basin Authority, a group comprised of local South County water districts. He said that the city is bearing the sole cost, approximately $2 million per year, to operate the plant for the next 25 years and he believes the Authority should bear some of the cost. Roy believes in a three-pronged approach to deal with the water rate problem. First, he wants the city to buy water from the cheapest source. Second, he wants to stop tiered water rates that punish residents for higher water usage, and currently have been challenged in the courts. Third, Roy believes that the contractual relationship with the Authority is flawed and, like with the riding park, he wants to have the city’s attorneys go through the documents to see what the city’s legal obligations are and if they can change the contract in any way. Roy believes that a small city like San Juan Capistrano should pursue options with other partners to solve its water problems.

Roy has no specific information on compensation for city employees. He is concerned about the growing trend in California of high public employee compensation and benefits in general. He noted that the city recently required new employees to pay for their pension costs, but they were given a raise to offset those costs. Roy said that if he is elected, he will gather data related to employee compensation and work with other council members to determine fair compensation and benefits.

Roy said that the city is built out, and there is not too much open space that would be appropriate for new development. The city decided years ago to become more of a bedroom community, avoiding excessive commercial and industrial uses, which Roy noted means lower sales taxes and limited development potential. He said that the residents also want the city to acquire and maintain large open spaces and parks for public use. Roy wants to maintain that quality of life, but he recognizes the difficulty with raising the funds necessary to maintain those parks. Roy said he chooses to take a middle-of-the-road approach with a balance between excessive development and the need for city revenue to support the city’s services and activities.

Roy has been endorsed by the Orange County Register and the Family Action PAC. Roy believes in organizational endorsements but feels individual endorsements from politicians may present a conflict of interest when he is making decisions on the council and he is seeking small contributions from residents instead.

Kim is running for City Council to fix the traffic problems in the city, pay down the debt, and fix how the groundwater plant is run.

Kim feels that the current council has no overall plan for the city. She mentioned the “ghost train” at Del Obispo where she says the city spend more than $1 million on a train crossing, but the traffic arms often come down with no train in sight. She wants to take the defective crossing out. Kim also noted that the current council tried to fix the 5 freeway exit at Rancho Viejo and Junipero Serra, but she thinks they only made it worse, so they are trying to fix it yet again. She also stated that the 5 freeway has an onramp at Stonehill and Camino Capistrano, but no offramp. Kim believes that the town is a “door mat” for traffic from Dana Point and Laguna Niguel, and that an offramp at Stonehill/Camino Capistrano would help alleviate some of that traffic. Kim feels that the traffic problems are the result of self-inflicted city mismanagement. She said that several residents have written to the Capistrano Common Sense (her publication) suggesting ways to fix the traffic problems, and she would entertain resident input in evaluating how to address the city’s traffic issues.

Kim would stop gifting money to everyone to address the city’s debt (Kim said the debt is over $110 million for a city of 38,000). She stated that the city gifted $560,000 to a downtown development plan, and $44,000 for a dog park. She believes the city is addicted to grant money for the underserved. As an example, she said that the city put up bus shelters on Camino Capistrano in downtown with some grant money, but the city also had to chip in $66,000 of its own money. She also said they put solar panels on top of the shelters, but that the shelters are located under trees. According to Kim, the city council recently gifted approximately $300,000 in several different decisions that she believes should have been used to pay off the debt on the old dance hall. Kim does not want to spend money unless it is necessary for infrastructure or other vital city issues.

Kim wants to buy water from the cheapest source. She said that they currently have a failing groundwater recovery plant that she wants to fix.

Kim believes that the city, with over 100 employees, has too many positions for a city of 38,000. She stated that the groundwater plant employs 23 people at an average of $100,000 in compensation and benefits. She also noted that the city has a fleet of cars that are unnecessary. Kim would look at outsourcing positions after reviewing the entire staff and their performance. She would eliminate unnecessary positions and consider part-time positions where appropriate.

Kim said that the city is built out and needs to address the traffic and infrastructure problems before considering any future development.

Kim is endorsed by, among others, the Orange County Register, the Family Action PAC, South Orange County Republican Assembly, and she will not take any money from special interests, but only residents.

All of the recommendations of the Endorsements Committee tonight must be ratified by the Central Committee on October 15. (The Central Committee can and does overturn recommendations from the Endorsements Committee.)

The OC GOP Central Committee confirmed a set of early endorsements in August and regular endorsements in September. Here are those endorsements, so far.

Tonight, the OC GOP Endorsements Committee meets to make recommendations to the OC GOP Central Committee for late endorsements to be made at the October 15 OC GOP Central Committee meeting.

These late endorsements were either because the candidates submitted late applications or the decision was delayed by either the Central Committee or the Endorsements Committee (San Clemente’s Jim Dahl and San Juan Capistrano’s Sam Allevato and Ginny Kerr were delayed while the rest were late applications).

6:29 PM – Candidate Kim McCarthy says she’s 51 after briefly struggling to remember her age. She states that incumbent Sam Allevato voted for a $30 million bond that increased property taxes and has needlessly borrowed money to pay for city expenses that should have come from reserves. She worked at the Pontiac Motor Plant to work her way through Wayne State University. After Wayne State, she worked on commission basis. McCarthy says she wants respect for constituents’ money. She says she will not vote for bonds nor for any grants, matching or non-matching. She says she wants to help raise property values.

6:32 PM – Candidate Roy L. Byrnes is a physician by training has lived in Orange County since 1959 and was elected to the San Juan Capistrano City Council in 1972 and voluntarily retired in 1976 to spend more time teaching at UCI and on his medical practice. He expresses his concern about the leftward shift of City Councils in San Juan Capistrano, most recently led by Sam Allevato. Byrnes urges the committee to not “take the easy way out” by refusing to endorse. He says the city’s residents are 40% Democrats, and the Democrats do not bother to field a candidate because they’re happy with Allevato. (OC Political fact check: 26.6% of San Juan Capistrano’s registered voters are Democrats.) He says if the OC GOP fails to endorse, the Democrats will win.

6:37 PM – A resident says there is hostility to religion on the City Council with the effort to tax religious schools and requiring these religious schools offer scholarships and build trails, which is an intrusion of government upon the school. He cites the City Council’s requirement that only councilmembers can give the invocation, which “sounds like a state religion.”

6:39 PM – San Juan Capistrano Planning Commissioner Rob Williams speaks in opposition to Kim McCarthy because he says she only says negative things about the city even when he says the facts contradict her. He says McCarthy not only contributed money but also walked precincts for Democrat Laura Freeze, who unseated Joe Soto, the CRA/OCGOP-endorsed candidate.

6:41 PM – A resident speaks of the high water rates in San Juan Capistrano. He says there’s a $100 million debt, including a water department with a now-$6 million debt (previously $8 million). He says he voted for Democrat Freeze because her supporters hoodwinked him into thinking she was a fiscal conservative and that Freeze fooled many others.

6:43 PM – McCarthy states she gave two $250 checks to Freeze, who had told her she was a fiscal conservative with a financial background. McCarthy notes she’s endorsed by SOCRA and Family Action PAC, as is Byrnes. She says she would never support or vote for Freeze again.

6:45 PM – Byrnes says he and McCarthy are not politicians, just Republicans trying to do the best they can. He says that “evil triumphs” when the good do nothing, and that’s the reason the OC GOP should endorse in this race to prevent the Democrats from capturing one of the Council seats.

6:47 PM – Endorsements Committee Member Mary Young expresses her concern about candidates who simply attack their opponents but do not explain what they will do as Councilmembers. Young expresses her concern that McCarthy failed to disclose her support for Freeze on the endorsements questionnaire in the section that asked about support of Democrats.

After dodging the question for a while, Williams says he voted for the tax.

6:49 PM – Endorsements Committee Member Mary Young speaks and Candidate Kim McCarthy starts shouting over her, with each demanding that the other show respect. Young states and McCarthy shouts about how hard they work on the Central Committee and as a candidate, respectively. (OC Political wishes we had a camera going.) McCarthy rises out of her seat as the male Endorsements Committee members have facial expressions of concern about a potential physical confrontation.

6:50 PM – Endorsements Committee Member Mary Young makes a motion to endorse nobody. It dies for lack of a second.

6:51 PM – Endorsements Committee Member Thomas Gordon expresses his disappointment in the fighting. He says he received numerous phone calls from legislators and other elected officials, and that he is insulted that Allevato couldn’t show up for the meeting when he requested the endorsement while Gordon drove 60 miles from his office to be here.

6:53 PM – Endorsements Committee Member Chandra Chell says a first-time candidate does not have a voting record, so we can only take a candidate at their word.

6:54 PM – Discussion ensues as the committee notes several people who gave money to Democrats were endorsed by the OC GOP Central Committee.

6:55 PM – Endorsements Committee Chair Mark Bucher expresses his disappointment at the way McCarthy conducted herself toward Endorsements Committee Member Mary Young. However, Bucher says he is completely unimpressed with McCarthy’s opponents who were absent despite saying they would be present. Bucher also expresses his concern about the need for elected officials to show restraint. Bucher expresses concern about Allevato’s support of the impact fee imposed on religious schools, which Bucher says is simply a tax by another name.

6:56 PM – Endorsements Committee Member Thomas Gordon echoes Bucher’s disappointment about McCarthy’s treatment of Young, but he still plans to vote to recommend McCarthy for endorsement and hopes she wins the election. He says if she gets the endorsement, she represents the Republican Party, and she hopes to represent the people of San Juan Capistrano. If she reacts like that to Young, she may do the same to constituents, which will reflect badly upon both the Republican Party and the City of San Juan Capistrano.

6:58 PM – The vote is 2-1-1 (Gordon and Chell in favor, Young against, and Bucher abstaining) to recommend the endorsements of McCarthy and Byrnes.

I don’t know what they said, but McCarthy and Young spoke and shook hands after the vote.

Laguna Niguel City Council

6:59 PM – At the urging of Endorsements Committee Member Chandra Chell and Central Committee Member Norm Dickinson, the committee unanimously recommends Jerry McCloskey for endorsement, noting McCloskey’s endorsements by myriad conservatives, including Laguna Niguel Councilman Robert Ming. (McCloskey isn’t here, as he has a scheduling conflict with a city commission.)

San Clemente City Council

7:00 PM – Jim Dahl notes he is a 16-year City Councilman and speaks of his family, including his son in the USMC and granddaughter who is on the TV show Parks & Recreation. He speaks of his roles on the OC Vector Control District Board, OC Fire Authority, and Transportation Corridor Agencies. He says he is endorsed by Assemblywoman Diane Harkey, Supervisor Pat Bates, Supervisor Bill Campbell, and the Lincoln Club of Orange County. He notes his city’s AAA bond rating, parks and beaches. He closes, “We wish San Juan would give us more sand.”

7:02 PM – Endorsements Committee Member Mary Young asks about how many people are running for how many seats.

7:02 PM – Dahl says there are two slots with five candidates.

7:03 PM – Central Committee Alternate Jennifer Beall notes Dahl endorsed John Alpay in the 2010 Capistrano Unified School District recall and again in this 2012 general election. Beall notes Alpay is an official endorsement against Prop 32. She says Dahl has “spit in the face” of the party for twice backing Alpay against OC GOP-endorsed candidates.

7:05 PM – Central Committee Member Norm Dickinson speaks in favor of Dahl, citing his property rights record as the only council member backing the CA GOP position on a San Clemente ballot measure.

7:06 PM – Dahl says he considers Alpay a friend and considers it a matter of honor and will not withdraw his endorsement of Alpay.

7:07 PM – Endorsements Committee Member Chandra Chell asks how can Dahl reconcile being a fiscal conservative with endorsing Alpay (the only candidate running for his trustee area in the 2010 CUSD recall).

7:11 PM – No one makes any motion regarding Dahl, so the Committee moves on.

Mesa Consolidated Water District, Division 1

7:12 PM – Endorsements Committee Member Chandra Chell speaks in favor of Eric Bever based on his record as a Costa Mesa Councilman and his role as part of Righeimer’s team. The committee votes unanimously to recommend Bever for endorsement.

Municipal Water District of Orange County, Division 6

7:13 PM – Incumbent Jeffrey Thomas praises the work of the Endorsements Committee and of OC GOP Executive Director Scott Loenhorst. He says they should never be yelled at. Thomas was appointed to the seat three years ago when his predecessor had been flown to a board meeting on a Metropolitan Water District of Southern California plane from his La Quinta home (far outside MWDOC). Thomas was appointed to replace the carpetbagger. Thomas won a two-year term in 2010 and is up for re-election this year. He fought the state’s $13 billion water bond and will fight the 2013 water bond that will likely be $14 billion.

7:15 PM – The Endorsements Committee votes unanimously to recommend Thomas for endorsement. Thomas pledges not to stay an argue.

Huntington Beach Union High School District, Full Term

7:16 PM – Candidate John Briscoe speaks against a $250 million bond in the Ocean View School District, a $27 million technology bond in Fountain Valley School District, and a $927 million bond in the Coast Community College District that doesn’t build any schools. He says the incumbents are “tiny-R” Republicans who brag about their endorsements by the unions, and the unions will spend $100,000 to buy those two seats.

7:19 PM – Endorsements Committee Member Thomas Gordon asks if Briscoe is endorsed by Huntington Beach City Councilman (and former Huntington Beach Union High School District Board Member) Matt Harper.

7:20 PM – Briscoe says Harper would have endorsed him had he run for the short-term two-year seat instead of one of the two full-term four-year seats. He says he is endorsed by Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, Assemblyman Jim Silva, and former Assemblymen Van Tran and Chuck DeVore.

7:20 PM – In response to an inquiry from Central Committee Alternate Scott Peotter, Endorsements Committee Chair Mark Bucher notes that because Christina Shea and Lynn Schott are already endorsed for the two Council seats in Irvine, so the Endorsements Committee has no ability to take action on Evan Chemers. Bucher says there is also inadequate notice. He says a Chemers endorsement can be considered by the whole Central Committee who can endorse more candidates than spots and who would have adequate notice.

The OC GOP Central Committee confirmed a set of early endorsements in August and regular endorsements in September. Here are those endorsements, so far.

Tonight, the OC GOP Endorsements Committee meets to make recommendations to the OC GOP Central Committee for late endorsements to be made at the October 15 OC GOP Central Committee meeting.

Up for consideration are:

Sam Allevato – San Juan Capistrano City Council

Ginny Kerr – San Juan Capistrano City Council

Kim McCarthy – San Juan Capistrano City Council

Roy L. Byrnes – San Juan Capistrano City Council

Jerry McCloskey – Laguna Niguel City Council

Jim Dahl – San Clemente City Council

Eric Bever – Mesa Consolidated Water District, Division 1

Jeffery Thomas – Municipal Water District of Orange County, Division 6

John Briscoe – Huntington Beach Union High School District, Full Term

These late endorsements were either because the candidates submitted late applications or the decision was delayed by either the Central Committee or the Endorsements Committee (Allevato, Kerr, and Dahl were delayed while the rest were late applications).

Again, all of the recommendations of the Endorsements Committee must be ratified by the Central Committee on October 15. (The Central Committee can and does overturn recommendations from the Endorsements Committee.)

7:28 PM: Chairman Scott Baugh discusses the importance of candidates stepping up at all times not just around the candidates’ own elections.

7:29 PM: At the request of Chairman Scott Baugh, Orange County Board of Education Trustee Robert Hammond discussed being at the County School Boards Association meeting where the attendees complained low voter turnout will allow “the Republicans from Orange County to defeat Prop 30 and Prop 38.”

7:30 PM: Baugh describes the 13 open OC GOP GOTV HQs and mentions 3 more are on the way.

7:31 PM: Baugh speaks of the Costa Mesa Charter Amendment being a priority of the Republican Party.

7:33 PM: Committee Alternate Bill Dunlap speaks of the importance of getting out the vote. Only 26% of OC voters cast their ballots in June. He describes a number of party-sponsored get-out-the-vote efforts.

7:36 PM: Baugh delivers the 1st Vice Chair’s report on behalf of John Warner: the report included information about the next countywide precinct walk as well as information about Congressman John Campbell agreeing to fund a GOTV headquarters in the City of Orange.

7:38 PM: Fullerton RWF President Beverly Gunter speaks of RWF’s efforts to fundraise, phone bank, and precinct walk for candidates. She presents a $900 check from RWF to subsidize

7:39 PM: My boss from my day job, Chris Norby, speaks of his race for re-election.

Endorsements Committee Report

7:41 PM: Endorsements Committee Chair Mark Bucher begins his long-awaited report. He speaks of Prop 32’s 55%-37% lead despite “Yes on Prop 32″ not starting any advertising until today while “No on Prop 32″ had been pounding away for a month. He also speaks of the finances of the Prop 32 battle.

7:43 PM: Now he actually begins his long-awaited report on endorsements…

7:44 PM: Bucher thanks fellow Endorsements Committee Members Chandra Chell, Thomas Gordon, Ray Grangoff, Matt Harper, and Mary Young. He describes the endorsement procedures and goes over the list. (Here’s the list again. Here and here are the live blogs of those meetings.)

7:48 PM: Parliamentarian Kermit Marsh says the Endorsements Committee may not recommend a dual endorsement while the Central Committee can make a dual endorsement (in reference to the contest between Brett Franklin and Charles Hart for Santa Ana City Council, Ward 3).

8:04 PM: Harkey speaks of being dragged through the mud in politics. She states many lies have been spread about Allevato. She says there are five high schools in San Juan Capistrano: one public and four private. She speaks of heavy congestion from the proximity of the schools. She gets booed when she attempts to speak over time.

8:07 PM: Baugh reiterates the time limits.

8:08 PM: Pauly speaks of the controversy about the tax on religious schools and the property tax increases. She speaks of the importance of following the process in which the endorsements committee recommended delaying consideration of San Juan Capistrano City Council until October.

8:10 PM: In an unusual action, Harkey speaks again in favor of Allevato since no one else is planning to speak in support of him. She speaks of the debt and septic issues in the City of San Juan Capistrano.

8:19 PM: In response to a question, Allevato defends the tax on the religious school as a student impact fee that the school agreed to pay. He goes on to explain the intricacies of student impact fees in San Juan Capistrano.

8:23 PM: Harkey asks Allevato to explain various land use decisions.

8:24 PM: Allevato speaks of various issues related to sewage costs from a plant in San Juan Capistrano.

8:26 PM: Baugh states it looks like the committee is not supportive of the motion to endorse Allevato.

8:26 PM: Harkey says he wants to go for it, and his wishes should be respected.

8:27 PM: Allevato says he (and Ginny Kerr) answered his questionnaire on time and got his signatures. Allevato says the other candidates failed to do so.

8:27 PM: Bartlett moves and John Draper seconds a substitute motion to delay to October (restoring the Endorsement Committee’s original recommendation).

8:28 PM: By voice vote, the committee refers the Allevato endorsement back to the Endorsements Committee.

8:30 PM: Former CRP Chair Ron Nehring praises the OC GOP. He praises the efforts of the OC GOP on behalf of Assemblyman Allan Mansoor and Costa Mesa Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer. He speaks of watching the DNC. He praises Mitt Romney and blasts Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. He begins to introduce Elizabeth Emken by speaking of the importance of fighting for every seat from Mosquito Abatement District to U.S. Senate.

8:33 PM: Emken demands that Feinstein discuss her record. Emken speaks of her own education and financial background. She speaks of her efforts on behalf of her autistic son and other autistic children. She speaks of her efforts to lobby Congress. She says, “Obamacare is bad for everyone.” She challenged Feinstein to debate and notes even the LA Times says Emken deserves the right to debate Feinstein. She says the LA Daily News and the OC Register agree. She says 123,000 people have seen the footage from ABC 7 in Los Angeles of Feinstein refusing to agree to debate. Emken asks for money and plugs her web site.

Santa Ana City Council, Ward 3 – Brett Franklin and Charles Hart

8:41 PM: There was a quick discussion that although the Endorsements Committee did not have the power to recommend a dual endorsement in Santa Ana City Council, Ward 3, that the Central Committee does have that power and so both Brett Franklin and Charles Hart are endorsed.

8:42 PM: Baugh asks for a vote again just to make sure. The Central Committee votes unanimously to endorse both Franklin and Hart.

Irvine City Council – Lynn Schott

8:43 PM: Baugh speaks of the 25-year inability of the Republican Party to remove Larry Agran from the Irvine City Council. He speaks of the OC GOP prioritizing Costa Mesa this year. Baugh asks Lynn Schott about her former alternate Patrick Rodgers who attacked the Costa Mesa Council majority and the Costa Mesa Charter.

8:46 PM: Schott says Rodgers was a strong supporter in 2010. She says she was completely unaware of Rodgers’s statements until the Endorsements Committee meeting. She says she tries to not read blogs. She condemns Rodgers’s statements and “repudiates” the attempt to frame Righeimer for DUI. Rodgers admitted to her that he had gone too far. She obtained his resignation on September 7 (the same week that she learned of his statements). She says she fully supports Prop 32 and opposes the unions’ efforts to “consolidate their power over choosing City Councilmembers” and other governmental bodies. She says she is against defined benefit retirement programs and favors defined contribution retirement programs.

8:51 PM: Schott is endorsed by a unanimous voice vote.

Orange City Measure FF

8:51 PM: Villa Park Councilwoman Deborah Pauly speaks of being contacted by numerous Republicans expressing their concerns about Measure FF. Pauly says the “No on FF” side did not get a chance to speak to the Endorsements Committee. She says thousands of Republicans, independents, and Democrats signed a petition to get a referendum to force FF on to the ballot. She says this is an issue that is divisive to Republicans, and she moves that the Republican Party take no stance on Measure FF.

8:54 PM: Orange Mayor Pro Tem Denis Bilodeau speaks of the landowner wishing to build 36 homes on 50 acres of land on a 4-1 vote, who he notes the 1 is a Democrat who is receiving bundled campaign contributions from “No on FF.” Bilodeau says it is a property rights issue and makes a substitute motion to endorse Measure FF (reverting to the original recommendation from the Endorsements Committee).

8:57 PM: Marcia Gilchrist speaks in favor of Bilodeau’s substitute motion. She says the people objecting to the construction of the homes are trying to impeded a property owner from doing what they want with their own land.

8:58 PM: By voice vote, the OC GOP endorses “Yes on Measure FF.”

Fullerton City Council – Jennifer Fitzgerald

9:00 PM: Tim Whitacre moves to not endorse Jennifer Fitzgerald for Fullerton City Council, with Allan Bartlett seconding. He speaks of Barry Levinson’s efforts on behalf of Fullerton. He says Levinson is no longer seeking the party endorsement to prevent divisiveness in the OC GOP. Whitacre provides an email showing Fitzgerald asking Tony Bedolla on behalf of her client (Troy Edgar) to bundle $99 contributions from union members.

9:03 PM: County Supervisor Shawn Nelson speaks of being the only person in the room to face $1.2 million in hostile union IEs. He speaks of the 2002 successful effort to drive Democrat Jan Flory off the Fullerton City Council, but Flory is running again. Nelson speaks of her history working for Republicans. Nelson says he previously supported Levinson, but Levinson has made two unsuccessful bids for Fullerton Council. He notes a conservative woman has not been elected to the Fullerton City Council since 1986.

9:06 PM: Baugh notes that in the OC GOP union-free pledge, the party welcomes contributions of individual union members but not of the union itself.

9:07 PM: Fullerton Mayor Pro Tem Bruce Whitaker notes that his city has had two recalls in two decades. He says there is an opportunity for Fullerton right now. He says he has a bias in favor of activism. He says Republicans should have bold colors not pale pastels. Whitaker expresses his concern about her relative lack of public statements on issues other than outsourcing the Fullerton Police Department to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. Whitaker urges OC GOP neutrality between Fitzgerald and Levinson.

9:09 PM: My Central Committee member arrives, so my alternate voting power is gone. I now only wear one hat as your intrepid blogger.

9:10 PM: Mary Young speaks of knowing Fitzgerald for 19 years. She says if someone is an activist for 17 years but is gone for 2 years, that 2 years of inactivity does not outweigh the 17 years of activism.

9:11 PM: By voice vote, the committee did something. No one is sure what happened.

9:12 PM: There is now a standing vote.

9:15 PM: The count is 31 people voting in favor of the party being neutral between Fitzgerald and Levinson, and 23 people voting in favor of endorsing Fitzgerald.

There is no endorsement for Fullerton City Council, other than incumbents Bruce Whitaker and Travis Kiger, who were endorsed in August.

Anaheim City Council – Brian Neil Chuchua

9:16 PM: Tim Whitacre moves to endorse Brian Chuchua, with Baron Night seconding. Whitacre notes Lodge opted to withdraw his own endorsement request. Whitacre warns of the union’s big push in Anaheim. He says that Mayor Tom Tait needs all the help he can get. He says Tait lobbied the party to not endorse Lodge. Whitacre praises Chuchua as a good conservative who can help Mayor Tait.

9:22 PM: Tim Whitacre says he has been reimbursed by Chuchua for various expenses related to Chuchua’s campaign.

9:23 PM: There is a standing vote. There are 29 votes in favor of endorsing Chuchua, and there are 11 votes against endorsing Chuchua. Chuchua joins Lucille Kring as the OCGOP-endorsed candidates for Anaheim City Council.

Jesse Petrilla Returns

9:26 PM: Rancho Santa Margarita Councilman Jesse Petrilla is given a standing ovation after returning within the last week from his service with the Army National Guard in Afghanistan.

Mission Viejo City Council

9:28 PM: Baugh reads the minutes from the Endorsements Committee, though several Central Committee members ask me if Baugh is reading this post since the minutes sounds a lot like OC Political.

9:33 PM: Larry Gilbert brings up various documents and exhibits showing Frank Ury backing Democrat Dave Leckness and Wendy Bucknum with a union-paid sign in her yard, with her support for Leckness and Trish Kelley, neither of whom were endorsed by the OC GOP. (Scott Voigts says, “Wow” throughout Gilbert’s remarks.) Gilbert shows a campaign finance report showing Ury linked to Democrats.

9:36 PM: Baugh has to ask Gilbert to leave the stage after Parliamentarian Kermit Marsh repeatedly stated that Gilbert’s time was up.

9:37 PM: Young argues Leckness has a conservative voting record and that activist Shirley Morgan had tried repeatedly to make Leckness re-register as a Republican. Young asks what in Leckness’s voting record is not conservative.

9:38 PM: Bill Dunlap says the party should not pick between winners and losers because there are two spots and four Republicans seeking the seat.

9:39 PM: In response to an audience question, Baugh notes there are four Republicans among the six candidates.

9:39 PM: Peotter moves for no endorsement in Mission Viejo, and there is a near-unanimous voice vote for the OC GOP to be neutral in Mission Viejo.

9:44 PM: A representative speaks of a charter commission that amended various charter provisions seeking to update 58 year old language, streamline government, and reduce costs by eliminating class-action lawsuits.

9:49 PM: Miraculously, Deborah Pauly and Jon Flesichman unite to make and second a motion to send Measure EE to the Endorsements Committee in October. The Central Committee applauses stunned that Pauly and Flesichman are united. They vote unanimously to support the Pauly-Fleischman motion.

9:57 PM: Zonya Townsend presents the Volunteer of the Month Award to Shalon Norman. Various other people make presentations to Norman.

10:03 PM: Parliamentarian Kermit Marsh is pleased to report there have been no ethics complaints so far in 2012. Marsh disputes the election polls, and notes the 21-14 football victory of #21 Stanford over #2 USC.

10:05 PM: There’s a report from Diane Glinchey regarding the Romney campaign efforts in OC and in several swing states.

10:07 PM: Ronea Hart speaks of the Team Santa Ana precinct walk at the Santa Ana GOP GOTV HQ and the Santa Ana TEA Party meeting.

10:08 PM: One speaker notes today is the 225th anniversary of the Constitution.

10:09 PM: Steve Sarkis reports on his discoveries of enormous signs for “No on 32″ being delivered to a union hall.